In Cologne, Yeltsin agrees to consider revising 1972 treaty

Published: Monday, June 21, 1999

COLOGNE, Germany {AP} Eager to mend bomb-strained ties with President Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed Sunday for the first time to consider revising a landmark treaty banning American and Russian missile-defense systems.

"The two countries are back in business," National Security Adviser Sandy Berger reported after a friendly, hour-long meeting between the two presidents. Their decision to discuss the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty was "very significant," Berger said.

Frail but feisty, Yeltsin came to the closing day of a summit of world leaders even as NATO was declaring an end to the Kosovo conflict and 78 days of NATO bombing that had outraged Moscow.

Striking a conciliatory note, Yeltsin declared, "The most important thing is to mend ties after a fight." Clinton thanked Yeltsin "for not giving up on our relationship" during four months of tension, Berger said.

"This entire difficulty in Kosovo has been a great test for the relationship ... but it is a test I believe that both countries have passed," Clinton said in a Russian television interview.

Clinton and Yeltsin agreed not to look back, but to move ahead to tackle thorny nuclear arms-control issues. Even so, Berger acknowledged, "Kosovo has left some scars, presumably on both sides."

Though ailing, Yeltsin pounded his fist in disagreement with his ministers at times and wagged his finger at note-takers to write an accurate report of the meeting. He invited Clinton to come to Moscow but it was not decided when that might happen.

When Clinton expressed concern about anti-Semitic statements by Russian nationalists, Yeltsin declared, "Provide me with all of the material you have and I will really sit on them," Berger recounted.

Clinton described Yeltsin as "clear, concise and direct and strong." In a CNN interview, Clinton said "We got a lot done."

The two presidents agreed to hold U.S.-Russian talks in the fall on deeper cuts in nuclear arms and on possibly reopening the 1972 ABM treaty, Berger said.

"This is very significant," he said, "because for the first time the Russians have agreed to discuss changes in the ABM treaty that may be necessitated by a national missile defense system, were we to decide to deploy one."